Independent Philadelphia grocer Jeff Brown says he has cracked the code for making money in some urban communities that in the past have been shunned by big chains as being too risky to invest in.
Part of the secret is catering to the specific tastes of customers in individual stores, something Brown says will be difficult for mammoth retailers like Wal-Mart Stores and Supervalu to replicate, now that they are trying to tap underserved markets for much needed growth.
"It's going to be very difficult for a large chain to have that level of customization. Those chains get economies of scale for doing the same thing over and over," Brown said.
But specialized offerings sometimes do not equal success in so-called "food deserts" — urban and rural areas with poor access to fresh, healthy food. At times it takes cold, hard, cash in the form of short-term public and private incentives to help offset the higher cost of running stores in those areas.
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